Flickering Hope
by Flickering Hope
Summary: I always thought that hope was a figment of the imagination- something people hold onto when there is nothing left. It wasn't till I was abandoned that I found my hope in the form of six boys. Maybe this time around, we can learn to love together. We were always holding onto that fleeting, flickering hope. Fem!Tsuna Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn
1. The Beginning

This is a story about hope.

Now, there is always the question: "What is hope?" Back then, I thought that hope was just a figment of the imagination, something people hold onto when they have nothing left. I guess I was right, to a certain extent. Hope _is_ something people hold onto when they have nothing left, but it's far from any figment of the imagination. Which brings us back to our first sentence:

This is a story about hope. Or more specifically, this is a story about how I found my hope- which, unexpectedly, came in the form of six boys.

* * *

To start things off, I guess I should introduce myself. I am Sawada Tsunahime. Funny name, I know but originally, my parents thought I was going to be a boy so they decided to name me Tsunayoshi. After I was born and they realised I was actually a girl, they changed it to Tsunahime. I'm 15 years old and my birthday's October 14th. I am known more commonly as Dame-Tsuna because I am "No Good" at everything I do. Oh, and one last thing about me, I don't believe in hope.

Looking back on it, it all started on the first day of the Summer Holidays. I had just finished the first term of my 3rd year in Nami-chuu and I was ecstatic to get out of the hellhole. In case you hadn't noticed, I don't like school. It is full of bullies and annoying-not to mention FAKE teachers- like Nezu-sensei who have nothing better to do than pick on me. Little did I know however, that I'd never see Nami-chuu ever again.

Things started off normally that day. Well, except for this dreaded feeling from the pit of my stomach- now that I think about it, I really should've listened to it, it would've saved me a lot of pain and heartache down the road. That day, I walked home alone like I always do and like always, I had to run away from that dog from hell. Like always, I arrived home panting and with a few scratches and bite marks and like always, I shouted out a "Tadaima!" to my mother. However, unlike all the other times, the one who answered my call wasn't my mother, but my father.

You see, my father works as a construction worker that travels around the world so we don't see him around a lot. In total, I have around 20 days worth of memories with him in them and the large majority of those memories is of him a) sleeping; b) eating; c) being lovey-dovey with mum; or d) –my personal favourite- fishing in nothing but underwear. Yeah, great memories, I know. Besides all those great memories, there's also the fact that I don't exactly trust the man. I mean, at first I found it suspicious that a CONSTRUCTION WORKER would travel around the world for work but no one really wants to doubt their parents when they're young and besides, I generally like giving people the benefit of the doubt so I decided to believe him. However, when we received a postcard from him last year of the South Pole with penguins, I snapped. I really don't like not being able to trust my own father but that was truly the way I felt. I don't know, something about that postcard just seemed to scream "**SUSPICIOUS"** with the igloo and all but that might just have been me. After all, mum found nothing suspicious about it but then again, when does she?

_Anyway,_ as I was saying, my father answered my call and gave me a giant bear hug gushing over "How cute my Tsu-chan is," and telling me "How Tsu-chan is growing up to look just like my adorable Nana." Now that I think about it, I should've realised right then and there that something was up. After all, that man brings nothing but a cyclone of trouble every time he walks through that goddamned door before leaving me to clean up the mess he leaves behind. Really, how naïve I was to think that he was only there to visit. I had realised long ago that every time that man comes home, he has a reason. I guess I just didn't want think that this time, that reason would be ME.

"Haha, hi dad." I said once I got out of that death-grip of a hug. I swear, despite acting like a complete child 99% of the time, he is STRONG. "Where is mum?"

"Oh, my dear Nana went out to shop saying she was going to cook a feast for us tonight saying something along the lines of 'Kyaa! Why didn't you tell me you were coming?! I would've bought more food earlier!' Yeah, that sounds about right." Dad replied while wearing that ridiculously big and childish smile. I sweat dropped. _"So he turned up unexpectedly again" _I thought. Suddenly, the door slammed open and mum walked in holding a ton of bags.

"I'm home darling, Tsu-chan~" she sang.

"Sweetheart~ you're home!" dad replied hugging her much like he did to me but with love hearts floating around them. I sighed and made my way up the stairs.

"I'm going to take a shower." I told them, not like they were listening anyway. After I finished showering, I headed down to the dining room- only to trip down the stairs: again. I swear, gravity has it out for me- what did I every do to it?! Well, putting that matter aside, I made it to the dining room (relatively) unharmed and began eating while listening to my father gushing on and on about "How delicious my beloved Nana's cooking is." But then he brought up the topic that would change my life forever.

"Hey, Tsu-chan, why don't we go on a trip into the mountains- just you and me. You know, for some father-daughter bonding time!" Iemitsu exclaimed suddenly.

I sighed. His idea of bonding usually ended with ME getting hurt 99.99% of the time but looking into his eyes, I knew I'd already lost the fight so I did the only thing I could do- I closed my eyes, sucked it up and replied, "Okay."

"Aww, I wish I could join you but since it's a father-daughter trip…" mum trailed off.

"It's only for one day." I assured her, "You'll see us soon. Right dad?"

"Right." He replied and I could swear I saw him cringe but just brushed it aside. After all, it couldn't be that important, right? Ah, how naïve I was.

"Really?" Nana asked.

I smiled a little at that. "Promise."

It was a promise that would soon be broken.

* * *

The next day dad and I set out at 3 am (dad's idea) and by 11:00 we were well into the mountain range. There really was nothing out here, just vast expanses of land from all directions and to be honest, I was getting bored of looking at brown. Then, I saw a clearing.

"We're here!" Dad exclaimed with what seemed like a strained voice but I just brushed it aside.

"Mm! So, what are we doing first?" I asked with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

"We're going to fish in our underwear!" He exclaimed, sparkles in his eyes with a truly happy voice this time.

Ah, some things never change.

We spent the next couple of hours fishing, cooking the fish and then eating it. I think this was probably the happiest I've ever been with my dad and it made me feel like a little kid again. After we'd packed up our utensils, we decided to take a bush walk. We went extremely deep into the forest and now that I think about it, he looked really tense and nervous but at the time, I was to happy to realise or care. It was then that a bunch of scary looking men came out of the shadows and surrounded us. I grabbed onto dad's arm but he shook me off.

"Dad…?" My voice was wavering.

He looked at me with solemn eyes. "I'm sorry."

Then everything turned black.

_Thump_

**Un- tsu- ats- nats- tsuna- Tsuna! **

_Thump_

Huh? Wh-who's calling out my name?

_Thump_

Images flashed across my mind. A silver-haired boy playing a piano- a child with mismatched eyes crying in a cage- a white-haired kid with bandages around his hands standing in front of a pretty girl while getting beaten-up by teenagers- a boy with a baseball bat crying in front of a grave- a cow-like child crying out for his mommy and a raven-haired boy standing stoically while a woman with an uncanny resemblance to him threw a vase in his direction while screaming "Monster!" over and over again.

_Thump_

**Save them. Be the sky that embraces all and take them away from their darkness- before it's too late.**

_Thump_

More images flooded my head, emotions collided together splitting my head in half.

_Silent tears, fake smiles, anger, defiance, betrayal._

"No! Stop it! _**STOP IT!**_"

_Thump_

"Haa, haa, haa." I looked around.

"_Where am I?"_

The head splitting pain had subsided into a dull throb. I tried to even out my breathing while I collected my thoughts- then it hit me: I was abandoned.

"_Why? Why did he abandon me? Do they not want me anymore? No! It couldn't be true… could it? I am useless Dame-Tsuna after all. Are they happier without me? Is it just better if I just went ahead and died?"_

It was then that I recalled the children in my dream. No. I couldn't die yet; I still had to free them from that suffocating darkness. I couldn't die, not yet.

_I wouldn't die._

I got up unsteadily and took a good look at my surroundings. It would seem that I was still in the forest. When I took my hand of my throbbing head, I saw blood but there wasn't too much and there was nothing to treat it with anyway so I decided to just leave it alone for now. I checked my pockets but found there was nothing in them. All that was left for me to do was to keep on walking ahead and hoping that I would get lucky and would stumble across some other people.

Unfortunately, I'm never lucky.

I had been walking around for seven hours. I was tired, hungry, dehydrated and night was falling fast. It was getting cold as well so I decided to start a fire. I just stared at the glowing light in the middle of all the darkness, somewhat comforted by its warmth. The last thing I saw before losing consciousness was that flickering light.

* * *

It had already been two weeks since I had been abandoned in the forest. As things stood, I knew that I was going to die soon. I wouldn't actually mind dying all that much _really_. I was Dame-Tsuna, the loner, the loser, the easy target for bullies. If I really thought about it, I honestly couldn't think of one single reason against dying. But those boys, they had looked so sad. It looked as if they had tried so hard to stay strong until they eventually cracked. Even now I could see those frail yet childish faces void of any emotion but pain. Was it really alright to say those types of things just for being bullied and abandoned? Was it okay to die in a way such as this when they had suffered so much more?

It was then that for the first time in my life, I thought: _I want to live._

Just until I saved those boys- then I could die in peace but until then, I was definitely going to live. So, albeit a little wobbly, I managed to successfully stand up and continued walking but it was only a little more than half an hour later that I collapsed again. Panting under the harsh sun, I tried to get up again but none of my muscles would respond. I felt tears start to prickle my eyes. I hadn't even found those boys yet and I'm already going to die? I need to save them. They can't- they can't keep on suffering alone. Those eyes that seemed to be so distant. More than anything, at that moment, I wanted to reach out to them and tell them it was okay.

It was at this moment that I saw six figures reaching out to me- their faces blocked by the glaring sun behind them. I managed a weak smile before everything went black one again.

* * *

Haha. First fanfic- don't hate too badly, 'kay? The reason this chapter is kind of jumpy and not so in-depth is that I really just wanted to get the background out of the way so I can start the real story line. Well, I think it's pretty obvious who the six guys are so it isn't really a cliffhanger or anything but I figured this would be a good place to stop. Tell me what you think and how I could improve my writing all you like- and feel free to point out any mistakes. I'll be taking votes for desired pairings via reviews but I'm just going to put it out there now that this story is NOT going to be R27. I don't have anything against it, in fact, I am a fan but this is going to be more Parental!(Well as parental as Reborn can get)Reborn so it's just not going to work. Thank you for even bothering to read this and I hope to update soon since I practically got this all planned in my head but procrastinate a lot. I actually started writing this 4 months ago but couldn't be bothered until I just decided to finish the chapter on a whim a couple hours ago. Really, thanks for reading!~


	2. The Six Boys

To the people who followed and reviewed- THANKS YOU! I really appreciate it!

To the first person that reviewed and followed my story, I took that one down then put a slightly tweaked version back up so unfortunately that information was lost. Sorry! I hope you see this message so you know- I was happy that yours was the first one! Now, onto the story!

* * *

"Urgh,"

"_My head is killing me."_

I shifted around on the stiff bed.

"_Huh? This doesn't feel like my bed… Wait, not…my... bed… OH CRAP!"_

I sat up so fast I swear I heard a crack but I brushed that aside for the more pressing matters.

"Hn, herbivore, you are awake."

"HIIIIIEEEEEE!" I screamed while clutching the bed sheets closer to my chest. "Who, who are you?!" For some reason, he looked sort of familiar- like in a faraway dream of some kind…

The raven-haired boy across from me winced a little at the volume of my voice before smirking and saying, "Now, is this the way you greet all your saviours? You are pretty heavy for someone so small."

I blushed- which only made that bastard smirk more before replying, "Hey! I'm actually underweight you know!"

"Hmm? Is that so? Japanese girls must be getting chubby if you're-" The raven didn't get to finish his sentence as at that moment, the door slammed open revealing a bluenette with heterochromatic eyes.

"Kufufu~ What to we have here? Is the skylark trying to scare the little bunny away?" He said with a flourish of his hand. "Are you alright little bunny?" He asked while stretching his hand out to me. He may seem nice but something in the back of my mind told me he was dangerous so I backed away as far as I could into the wall.

"Kufufu~ It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you little bunny." He said as he climbed into the bed and hugged me. I stiffened, something wasn't right- that's when I felt a hand on my chest.

"P-P-Pervert!" I shouted while slapping him as hard as I could. He fell of the bed through the force of the slap. I was pretty strong for a girl after all.

"Kufufu, that hurt." He chuckled while holding his hand to his now red cheek.

"Hn, getting hit so easily by a girl, how pathetic." The raven-haired teen commented. I jumped, I had forgotten he was there.

"Kufufu~ Shut up skylark." The bluenette replied. "Anyway, what's her name?"

"Why are you asking me?" the skylark countered.

"A-ra? You were teasing the girl without even knowing her name?" The pineapple teased.

"Hn, you groped her without knowing her name, _pervert_." The raven smirked.

"Why you-" and that's when a fight broke out. I just looked on in fascination- they really were good fighters though I had to wonder where they had been hiding their weapons- especially that trident…

"_Not the time to think about that Tsunahime."_

Right, right. Now, if only I could slip pass them and escape I could be free of this crazy house. I was about to make my move when I met the bluenettes mismatched eyes.

"_Those eyes, could they be…? No way! He can't be… that cute little boy?! Argh, what the hell happened to him?! Damn you puberty, you made that cute kid into a pervert! Wait, that means… the raven is the stoic child?"_ I glanced at him again from the corner of my eyes. _"Well, it isn't that far a stretch." _I sweatdropped.

While I was having my mental debate, I hadn't realised that the two boys had stopped their fight and were staring at me in curiosity.

"Kufufu~ Is the bunny okay?" the bluenette asked me while laying a hand on my shoulder.

"Kyaa!"

SLAP!

The next moment, the blunette was on the ground with two red cheeks this time.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! You just scared me and I just reacted on instinct! It was a natural reflex- I swear!" I blubbered while helping him up. He groaned.

"That's one hell of a natural reflex." He muttered while rubbing his cheek. The raven-haired boy simply gave me a small nod.

"Good job." Then he went back to reading his book by the desk. The bluenette grew a giant tick mark and I decided to intervene before another fight broke out.

"E-to, what are your names?" I asked albeit a little shyly. The two boys stared at me for a moment before the raven-haired teen spoke up.

"Hibari Kyoya." Then he once again went back to his book.

"Kufufu~ Mukuro Rokudo." The bluenette replied while kissing my hand. "And what is your name little bunny?" He asked. I blushed.

"S-Sawada Tsunahime." I stuttered out. "May I ask where this is, Hibari-san, Mukuro-san?"

"Kufufu~ This is our home of course and you can just call me Rokudo."

"O-Okay, Rokudo-san. Please call me Tsuna then. Tank you for taking care of me but I must go now." And with that, I sprinted out the door.

"Kufufu~ I hope the others don't scare her TOO badly." Mukuro chuckled before sitting back to watch the show.

* * *

I slammed the door behind me as I ran. All around me there were just endless white halls decorated with what looked like antiques and giant crystal chandeliers.

"_Wao, these guys must be rich."_ I thought in the back of my mind. Well, it seemed that the boys had all grown up now so I guess I don't need to help them out anymore. From what I saw, under-confidence was the least of their problems so I resolved to get the hell out of this whacky house *coughMANSIONcough*. If only I had realised this was only the beginning of all the crazy that would ensue my life... While I was caught up in my thoughts, I didn't realise that there was a person who had just come out of one of the rooms until I ran into him.

"Itte," I mumbled while getting up, "What was that?" I looked up only to see a silver-haired boy grumbling while standing up.

"I'm so sorry!" I cried while bowing profusely.

"Che, just watch where you're going next time." The silverette grumbled while pulling out a cigarette. "Who are you anyway? I've never seen you around before" He added as an afterthought.

"Ah! I'm Sawada Tsunahime but you can just call me Tsuna." I said while bowing. "I don't know how I got here. The only thing I know is that I woke up and found myself in a strange place." I added.

"Oh, so you're the girl we picked up…" He said after a whiff of the cigarette. "Should you really be running around after you just woke up?" He asked.

"E-to, well, I kinda had to escape from Hibari-san and Rokudo-san so…" I trailed off, a little embarrassed.

"Huh, the pineapple bastard and the tonfa-wielding bastard huh? Well, I can't say I really blame you. If you're all better now, then just get out."

"Well, I don't really know how…" I answered while blushing. He sighed.

"Just go down the hall then go down the staircase. Take a left as soon as you get down and then turn on the third right. Keep on walking and you should find the exit." He said in a flat commentary.

"H-Hai!" I replied while trying to remember all the instructions before I started walking. I had gotten about 5 metres away when the silverette shouted at me.

"Other way!"

I turned around blushing beet red and started speed waling in that direction before taking a left in the first hall I saw.

"Hey, stop! You have to go down the staircase first!" The silverette shouted.

"A-Ah. Hai!" I replied before turning back and walking down the hall again. The silverette sighed and mumbled something about stupid women not being able to follow instructions before grabbing my hand and dragging me in the other direction. I just followed him in an awkward silence.

_Step, step, step._

"_Urgh, so awkward!"_ I thought and decided to break the silence.

"E-to, may I ask what your name is?" I asked shyly.

"Che, Gokudera Hayato. You better remember it." He said without even looking back at me.

"I-I see. Thank you for helping me Gokudera-san." I replied.

"Che. I'm not helping you. It would just be troublesome if you got injured by one of the other inhabitants of this house." He said while giving my arm a tug. I just giggled and followed him. He seemed like a nice guy and, if my hunch was correct, then he was the kid playing the piano. Deciding to take the plunge, I asked,

"Gokudera, to you play the piano?" He jerked back suddenly at that.

"No." was his only reply. The rest of the walk was once again consumed in silence until we reached the front door.

"There, now go." Was all Gokudera said before walking away.

"Gokudera-san, arigato!" I shouted after him. He just "Che-d" and continued walking. I was about to open the door and say goodbye to this admittedly strange house forever when warning sirens started going off in my head. My body reacted before my brain could even comprehend what was going on and I pushed Gokudera out of the way just before a chandelier dropped on the place where he had just been standing. I looked up at him but something was off about him.

"_Why does he look so worried?"_

I looked down at my hands.

"_Huh? Is this… my blood?"_ and that's as far as I got with my thoughts before I lost consciousness for the third time.

* * *

[Really wanted to end it here]

* * *

"Urgh." I was starting to realise that waking up after losing consciousness usually went hand-in-hand with pounding headaches. Really, I felt like crap- and that was an understatement.

"Tsina-san, are you awake?" A very concerned Gokudera asked. I just stared at him- I could have sworn that he had puppy ears and a tail.

_Blink, blink, blink._ _Rub eyes, blink again._

Nope, they were still there. Putting that aside for now, and deciding to see an eye specialist later, I asked, "What happened?"

"Well, Tsuna-san pushed me out of the way of the falling chandelier and took the blow instead of me!"

"_Is the tail wagging? And where did all these flowers and sparkles come from?"_ I sweatdropped.

On the outside I said, "Is that so…? How long have I been out?"

"Hai!" He replied. "You've been out for 7 hours, I was so worried!"

"_Wait, seven hours. Don't tell me…"_

"Gokudera-san, have you been by my side for seven hours?"

"Hai Tsuna-san! After all, you were the one who saved my life." Was his only reply as he looked over my wounds, "I do not deserve such kindness after I treated you so rudely!" He shouted while getting on his knees and bowing.

"Stop! Gokudera-san. You don't have to thank me for anything! After all, you guys saved me first, didn't you?" I said while waving my hands in front of my face.

"No! Tsuna-san. The truth is, I lied to you." Gokudera replied while getting out of his kneeling position.

"Huh?" Was my only eloquent reply.

"The truth is… I do play the piano."

"_Oh, so he was talking about that."_

"You see, I was an illegitimate child of a wealthy man and as such, no one cared about me. The reason I played the piano was that the only person who ever seemed to care about me even a little was my piano teacher…" He started off unsurely but I gave him an encouraging glance and he continued. "She died a couple of years after I met her in a car crash and it was then that I found out that she was my mother," tears started streaming down his face, "so when she died I-I…" He trailed off and started to break down into tears.

"Gokudera-san…" I didn't know what to do so I just held him until he finished crying.

"I'm sorry Tsuna-san. Making you listen to my past and having to comfort me. I am a failure!" He shouted while bowing so low his head hit the floor.

"No! Gokudera-san, it's okay! I'm really happy that you decided to trust me which such important information!" I replied while helping him get up. "Anytime you're troubled, feel free to come to me." I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"Hai, Tsuna-san!" He replied before eyeing my wounds again. "Hey Turf-Top! Get in here and look at Tsuna-san's wounds!" He cried. I sweatdropped, Turf-Top…?

"_Gokudera-san sure comes up with some interesting nicknames"_ I thought.

"HELLO TO THE _EXTREME_ TSUNA-CHAN!" Shouted a white-haired boy with bandages around his hands and nose. "I HEARD YOU _EXTREMELY _SAVED GOKUDERA!" I winced a little at the volume.

"Stop shouting Turf-Top! Do you WANT Tsuna-san to go deaf?!" Shouted Gokudera. The hypocrisy of that sentence completely blew me away but I decided to not mention it since his heart was in the right place. Also, he'd probably start harming himself in some way as an apology- which I REALLY didn't want.

"Haha, Gokudera-san, it's okay." I said, trying to calm him down.

"Tsuna-san is so kind!" Gokudera exclaimed, "And just call me Hayato!"

"Okay then," I replied, "but only if you call me Tsuna."  
"Tsuna-san, I couldn't" He exclaimed.

"Fine, then I won't call you Hayoto." He pouted and gave this kicked puppy look. I actually was about to back down but then he replied,

"Okay, Tsu-Tsuna…" I beamed.

"Thank you Hayato." Gokudera blushed and looked away.

"Well, now that that's over, let's proceed with the check-up!" 'Turf-Top' exclaimed (luckily, in a much quieter- but still loud- voice). "So, I heard you pushed Gokudera out of the way of a falling chandelier?" I nodded. "That is EXTREME!" He shouted.

"Not really," I replied, a little embarrassed, "I think that anyone else would've done the same…" 'Turf-Top' just stared at me for awhile before replying,

"You are an EXTREME person Sawada! You remind me a lot of my little sister!"

"_Little sister…? Ah, he must have been the boxer kid from my dreams."_

"You're sister sounds like a very nice person." I replied.

"She EXTREMELY is!" He shouted once again. "Her name is Sasagawa Kyoko and I'm Sasagawa Ryohei but you can EXTREMELY call me 'Nii-san' Sawada!" I smiled.

"Okay Nii-san but please, call me Tsuna."

"Tsuna-chan then!" He shouted. I giggled,

"Okay." I agreed.

"Well, Tsuna-chan, it looks like you are EXTREMELY alright! Just make sure not to over-exert yourself and you should be EXTREMELY fine!" He shouted while pumping his fists into the air.

"Show more respect to Tsuna Turf-Top!" Gokudera shouted.

"What was that Tako-Head?!" Ryohei replied. Tsuna simply giggled as they start fighting, they seemed close.

After the two had finished fighting, Gokudera insisted on escorting Tsuna everywhere.

"_Well, if that's what he wants…"_ Tsuna thought.

* * *

It was relatively soon after they had left the infirmary that the bumped into a tall, raven-haired boy.

"Haha, what's up Hayato? And who is the girl?" He asked.

"Don't call me so familiarly Yakyuu-Baka!" Gokudera replied, "And don't address Tsuna so casually!"

"Ah, so it's Tsuna, is it? Hi! I'm Yamamoto Takeshi but you can call me Takeshi!" I said cheerily.

"Ah, I am Sawada Tsunahime. Dozo Yoroshiku." I replied. He seemed nice but something was off about his smile.

"_Actually, he reminds me a lot off…"_

"Hayato, could you let me and Takeshi speak alone in private please?" I asked.

"Hai, Tsuna, if that is what you wish." With that, Gokudera walked to the end of the hall and stood at the ready in case anything happened to his precious Tsuna-san (He still addressed her as such in his head).

"Haha, so, what did you want to talk about Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

"Takeshi, are you okay?" I replied. He froze- only for a spit second- but he still froze.

"What are you talking about Tsuna? Of course I'm okay!" He said, back to his cheery self, but Tsuna wasn't fooled.

"Takeshi, you don't have to smile if you don't want to. It's okay." I said as calmly as I could. Yamamoto frowned.

"I'm completely alright. You don't know me anyway, I'm fine!" He shouted. I took a step forward and hugged him. He stood rigidly.

"I know it must hurt to lose someone close to you but it hurts even more to keep it in. It's okay to cry, I'm here for you." I said soothingly.

"How did you…?" He asked. I smiled at him- and that's when he broke down into racketing sobs.

After awhile, Yamamoto stopped crying.

"Hey Tsuna, can I tell you something?" He asked.

"Of course! Anything." I beamed. He took a deep breath and started talking.

"The thing is, my mum died when I was very young. After that, my father started working for longer to support us and didn't have much time for me anymore even though he really tried." He took another deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "The only thing I can really remember about my mom is her love of baseball. I would learn baseball from my mother and the way of the sword from my father. Honestly, it was the happiest I can ever remember myself being. Lately though, my baseball skills have been slipping and in turn, so has my sword. I don't want to lose the only thing I have left to remember them by! I don't want to lose anything ever again!"

"You know Takeshi, I'm sure that you'll get better soon. Maybe you've just been trying too hard lately. Either way, I'm sure you're parents were always proud of you." I said while smiling up at him. He gave me a watery smile and hugged me.

"Thank you, Tsuna." He whispered before letting me go. I motioned to Gokudera that it was okay to come over and he immediately snatched me away from Yamamoto.

"Stop being so familiar with Tsuna Yakyuu-Baka!" He shouted.

"Maa, maa, Hayato. I'm sure Tsuna doesn't mind. That is when a one-sided argument erupted with Gokureda yelling and Yamamoto laughing all the way. Tsuna couldn't help but smile. They really seemed like brothers.

Yamamoto, Gokudera and I spent the rest of the day together- just talking about nothing in particular and wandering around. Seriously, this mansion is just way too huge. Even Yamamoto got lost and he LIVES here. Well, then again, this _is_ Yamamoto we're talking about. It was while we were in the garden admiring the beautiful flowers that I spotted something under a faraway tree. Making my way over, I realised it was the cow-like child from my dreams.

"Mo-mommy. Don't leave me…" he mumbled in his sleep with outstretched hands. I looked at him solemnly before deciding to cuddle up to him. He really was a cute kid. His hands immediately latched around my waist in a iron grip and I could swear I saw a small smile play on his lips before he went back into a deep sleep. I too, must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know, I'm being woken up by someone poking my cheek. I swat the hand away but was snapped wide-awake when the person declares, "The great Lambo-sama demands to know who you are!"

"Hmm?" I gaze up to meet shocking grey eyes staring at me defiantly.

"I said, who are you and why were you sleeping next to me!" He shouted.

"I'm Sawada Tsunahime. What's your name?" I asked.

"I'm the great Bovino Lambo but that still doesn't explain why you're here." He replied.

"Oh, well apparently you guys picked me up after I had fainted I replied."

"Oh, so you're the half-dead girl." Lambo said while nodding. I sweatdropped.

"_How can a child say that so calmly?"_

"Hey Lambo, how old are you?" I asked.

"Ore-sama is 12 years old!" He declared proudly. "And as a thank you for saving you, you have to become my subordinate and give me grape candy!" He shouted.

"_Seriously, who's teaching him all this stuff?"_ Then I thought about all the other tenants of this mansion, _"Actually, on second thought, he's holding up pretty well."_

"Well Lambo, I'm afraid I don't have any grape candy so we can just say I owe you some, okay?" I responded deciding to just go along with it. Lambo thought about it for awhile.

"Okay!" He agreed happily. "I'm going to call you Tsuna-nee from now on!" he declared before doing a complete 180 and saying shyly, "If that's okay with you that is…" I grinned.

"Of course it is!"

"Tsuna! There you are!" Said the all-too familiar voices of Gokudera and Yamamoto.

"Hey, stupid cow, where have you been?" asked Gokudera.

"Hmph, ore-sama doesn't have to tell you Stupidera!" He shouted childishly while sticking his tongue out. "Come on Tsuna-nee, it's time for dinner!" He shouted seemingly deliriously happy while dragging me along.

"Hey, stupid cow! Don't act so informally with Tsuna!" Gokudera shouted while chasing after us. I was laughing all the way.

We were the last ones to make it to the dining room it seemed as Hibari, Mukuro and Ryohei were already seated and eating.

"Kufufu~ Welcome Tsu-chan~ " chuckled Mukuro.

"SIT DOWN AND EAT TO THE _EXTREME_!" shouted Ryohei.

"Hn." Was all that was said by Hibari.

After that all that was heard was the noises of chewing and arguing and maybe a few death threats here and there. It felt like a real home.

Unfortunately, fate likes to screw me over. The next thing I know, there is a voice saying, "Hmph, looks like your having fun Dame-Tsuna." My whole body freezes.

"Re-Reborn…"

* * *

**Dun-dun-dun! **

And that's a wrap people! Thanks for reading guys! R&R!


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